Milk and flavored milks have received wide acceptance among consumers for centuries. Much of this acceptance has related to recognition of the valuable nutrient content of the drinks.
Soft drinks and particularly carbonated soft drinks have also received wide acceptance based primarily on flavor, appearance and carbonation, despite a poor nutrient content.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,988 discloses a process in which milk in contacted with a strong cation-exchange in resin in acid form for a time sufficient to lower the pH in the milk to between 1.5 and 3.2. In this process the milk cations are exchanged with hydrogen ions. The decationised milk is contacted with a strong anion-exchange in resin in base form for a time sufficient to raise the pH of the milk to the value of about 3.5-4.5. This material is mixed with decationised, deanionised fruit juice to form a drink. This process has disadvantages in that it consists of numerous steps and involves adjusting the pH of a milk to a pH at which denaturation of proteins occurs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved milk drink base suitable for making milk drinks more like soft drinks; and/or, milk drinks like soft drinks derived from the base; and/or processes for the preparation of the base and the milk drinks like soft drinks and/or provide the public with a useful and nutritious choice.